Weird thoughts from a techie brain...

Why you should use NoScript

NoScript is an extension for the Firefox web browser that, among tons of other things, prevents Javascript code from being executed in the browser when you load a page.

Sounds simple, right? Well, NoScript has a lot more features and options, feel free to install it and take a look at its documentation and features, it is really worth it.

But here I want to focus on that hability, to prevent javascript code from being executed in your browser. This can be a bit annoying at first, specially nowadays when every website or webapp is using tons of javascript code for the most simple things, from displaying nice gallery carousels to modify the behaviour of clicks you do on links or buttons, passing by performing additional load of contents from third-party sources. If you don't believe me, just try to load a website like the Washington Postnot letting your browser to load any javascript from that domain. You won't see the pictures, for example.

In some other websites the experience is even worse, all you get is message asking you to enable javascript if you want to get the contents; or even worse, a blank page without any contents or indications of why the contents are not there.

That's why many people ask me why - "Why do you have this blocker, which makes websites unusable?" - they ask. Even if I can allow (permanently or temporary) those javascript codes to be executed, people usually find this very annoying.

Well, the answer is for security reasons. Exactly as when I do a network firewall setup, I prefer to go with a block by default, then allow what is needed policy in my browser. I think this is a very good idea, specially if you take in account things like this bugs here:

If you look a bit further down Internet Lane you will find a lot more examples of bugs that can be exploited by simple Javascript code that is automatically executed in your browser when you load a website, so be careful when surfing through the Interwebz!

Moving through the big city

Eleven days ago I hopped into a plane in A Coruña. That was the first part
of a trip that would take me to Barcelona, then Athens, then the island
of Naxos, in the Aegean Sea. We were going to have another
International Pizza sprint, but that's a totally different story, I just
wanted to add some context for this short story.

Yesterday I arrived in Piraeus around 15:00, as part of my trip back home. I
did step down the boat (Blue Star Naxos) and I went to the Piraeus Metro
station.

I was a bit excited. Moving around big cities is something that always excites
me, specially if I'm not in a hurry to get quickly somewhere. I like to take my
time, see what is happening around me and try to stop and watch even the
smaller details.

Before going to the Metro station, I gave my bigger backpack to my friend
Panos, so he and Oscar could take it on their motorbikes. Then I picked up the
smaller backpack and a bigger piece of luggage, one of those harder suitcases
with wheels (that they couldn't carry on the motorbikes). I also checked I
had a book with me, real paper book this time, it was a novel from
Haruki Murakami, Kafka on the shore.

The 100

The alarm should ring at 07:00 (EEST), but I wake up way before
that. I'm too excited to stay in bed, so I get out of the room as stealthy as
I can, trying not to bother Oscar, sleeping in the other bed.

I left the clothes ready the day before, in the living room, so there is where
I go after preparing breakfast (coffee, milk, bread and cheese).

I take it easy, eating slowly. It is always really hard to have breakfast so
early, but today I manage quite well and I eat it all up. The bike is ready
already, I put my cycling clothes on and I double check again that I have
everything with me (Phone, Garmin, HR Sensor, GoPro, spare tube, tools...).
Then I pick up Sascha's Jake to get outside.

Today we have planned to go on a longer ride together, Sascha and me. We will
do the Apollonas round (clockwise), a route that covers something like 100
kms around the island of Naxos. We will pass by beaches, villages, valleys
and mountains.

This site is an effort to share some of the base knowledge I have gathered through all this years working with Linux, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, Python or Zope, among others. So, take a look around and I hope you will find the contents useful.